Dr. Gordon one Easter brought an old beat-up rusty birdcage and sat it next to the pulpit. As he gave his sermon that Easter morning he held up the cage and said, “You might be wondering why this is here. As a matter of fact, that’s not the normal part of a service, having a bird cage here.”
He said, “Let me tell you the story of it. Several days ago I was noticing a little boy in tattered and torn blue jeans and a dirty T-shirt, cap off to the side, whistling, walking down an alley, swinging this birdcage. Clinging to the bottom of the cage were little field sparrows he had caught. So I stopped him and asked, ‘Say, sonny, what do you have there?’ He said, ‘Oh, I’ve got some birds.’ ‘What are you gonna do with ’em?’ I asked. ‘Oh, mess around with them, tease ’em, something like that.’ ‘Well,’ I asked, ‘when you get tired of ’em, what are you gonna do?’ He thought a moment and said, ‘Well, I got a couple of cats at home and they like birds. I think I’ll just let them have at ’em.'”
Dr. Gordon said his heart went out to the little birds so he made the little lad an offer. “How much do you want for the birds?” Surprised, the boy, said, “mister, these birds ain’t no good.” “Well,” Dr. Gordon said, “regardless, how much would you like for ’em?” The little fellow said, “How about two bucks?” He said, “Sold.” So he reached in his pocket and peeled off two dollar bills. The little boy shoved the birdcage forward pleased with his stroke of good fortune.
When the boy left, the minister walked a good distance away, lifted open the little cage door and said, “Shoo, shoo.” And he shoved them out of the door and they flew free.
The empty birdcage was a perfect illustration of how Satan had the human race trapped and frightened. Jesus Christ not only paid the price for our freedom; He has set us free.
The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart
Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 171.
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Another version, from Rev. Shelton Cole:
A man was on the side of the road with a large birdcage. A boy noticed that the cage was full of birds of many kinds. “Where did you get those birds?” he asked.
“Oh, all over the place,” the man replied. “I lure them with crumbs, pretend I’m their friend then when they are close, I net them and shove them into my cage.”
“And what are you going to do with them now?” The man grinned, “I’m going to prod them with sticks, and get them really mad so they fight and kill each other. Those that survive, I will kill. None will escape.”
The boy looked steadily at the man. What made him do such things? He looked into the cruel, hard eyes. Then he looked at the birds, defenseless, without hope. “Can I buy those birds?” the boy asked.
The man hid a smile, aware that he could be on to a good thing if he played his cards right. “Well,” he said hesitantly, “the cage is pretty expensive, and I spent a lot of time collecting these birds, I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll let you have the lot, birds, cage and all for ten pounds and that jacket you’re wearing.”
The boy paused, ten pounds was all he had, and the jacket was new and very special, in fact it was his prized possession. Slowly, he took out the ten pounds and handed it over, then even more slowly he took off his jacket, gave it one last look then handed that over too. And then (well, you’ve guessed it) he opened the door and let the birds go free.
MORAL OF THE STORY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Enemy of the world, Satan, was on the side of life’s road with a very large cage. The man coming towards him noticed that it was crammed full of people of every kind, young, old, from every race and nation.”
Where did you get these people?” the man asked. “Oh, from all over the world,” Satan replied. “I lure them with drinking, drugs, lust, lies, anger, hate, love of money, and all manner of things. I pretend I’m their friend, out to give them a good time, then when I’ve hooked them, into the cage they go.”
“And what are you going to do with them now?” asked the man.
Satan grinned. “I’m going to prod them, provoke them, get them to hate and destroy each other; I’ll stir up racial hatred, defiance of law and order; I’ll make people bored, lonely, dissatisfied, confused and restless. It’s easy. People will always listen to what I offer them and (what’s better) blame God for the outcome!” “And then what?” the man asked.” Those who do not destroy themselves, I will destroy. None will escape me.”
The man stepped forward. “Can I buy these people from you?” he asked.
Satan snarled, “Yes, but it will cost you your life.”
So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, paid for your release, your freedom from Satan’s trap, with His own life, on the cross at Calvary. The door is open, and anyone, whom Satan has deceived and caged, can be set free.
Submitted by:
Pastor Thomas A. McCue
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Another version from Dynamic Preaching:
That prince of the pulpit Charles Hadley Spurgeon was walking the streets of London deep in thought when he saw a young street boy. The lad was carrying an old, bent bird cage. Inside was a tiny field sparrow. Spurgeon stopped the boy and asked him what he was going to do with the bird.
“Well…” the boy said. “I think I’ll play with it for a while, and then when I’m tired of playing with it — I think I’ll kill it.” He made that last comment with a wicked grin.
Moved with compassion for the bird, Spurgeon asked, “How much would you sell me that bird for?”
“You don’t want this bird, mister,” the boy said with a chuckle. “It’s just a bleeding field sparrow.” But then he saw the old gentleman was serious.
“You can have this bird for — two pounds,” he said slyly. Two pounds at that time would be worth more than a hundred dollars today — an astronomical price for a bird worth only pennies. Spurgeon paid the price, and let the bird go.
The next morning, Easter Sunday morning, an empty bird cage sat on the pulpit of the great Metropolitan Tabernacle where Spurgeon preached.
“Let me tell you about this cage,” Spurgeon said as he began the sermon. Then he recounted the story about the little boy and how he had purchased the bird from him at a high cost.
“I tell you this story,” he said, “because that’s just what Jesus did for us. You see, an evil specter called Sin had us caged up and unable to escape. But then Jesus came up to Sin and said, ‘What are you going to do with those people in that cage?’
“‘These people?’ Sin answered with a laugh. ‘I’m going to teach them to hate each other. Then I’ll play with them until I’m tired of them — and then I’ll kill them.’
“‘How much to buy them back?’ Jesus asked.
“With a sly grin, Sin said, ‘You don’t want these people, Jesus. They’ll only hate you and spit on you. They’ll even nail you to a cross. But if you do want to buy them, it’ll cost you all your tears and all your blood — your very life!’”
Spurgeon concluded, “That, ladies and gentlemen, is just what Jesus did for us on the cross. He paid the ultimate, immeasurable price for all who would believe, that we might be free from the inescapable penalty of death.” (1)
That is the message of Easter. You and I can be free, free as that bird delivered from its cage. We can walk in dignity and joy, with purpose and power. Christ is stronger than sin and the grave.
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1. Gary Smalley and John Trent, THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE (Pomona, CA: Focus on the Family Publishing, 1988).